Report: Revenue down, but students excelling in AP courses, GT program

Friday

Nov 15, 2013 at 2:40 PM

Revenue in 2012-13 totaled $17,003,776.74 with $1,320,251.06 from federal funding and $1,622,488.65 from the state.

Stephanie Fischer @SDL_Stephanie

Revenue is down, but Stuttgart students are excelling, earning more scholarship money and participating in gifted and talented programs and Advanced Placement classes.

“We’re excited about things happening in our district,” Director of Educational Pupil Services James O’Neal said during the Stuttgart School District’s annual Report to the Public Tuesday.

Revenue

“We’re down quite a bit from previous years,” Stuttgart School District Director of Federal Programs and Curriculum Kathy Hopson said of the district’s revenue. “We’re having to do more with less.”

Revenue in 2012-13 totaled $17,003,776.74 with $1,320,251.06 from federal funding and $1,622,488.65 from the state.

District Demographics

According to the 2013 Report to the Public, 47.7 percent of students in the Stuttgart School District identified as Caucasian; 47.3 percent are African-American; 3.7 percent are Hispanic; and 1.3 percent identified as Other. Throughout the district, 64.9 percent of students qualified for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Seventy-five percent of Park Avenue Elementary students qualified for the free and reduced rate, along with 64.4 percent of Meekins Middle School students, 63 percent of Stuttgart Junior High School students and 53.58 percent of Stuttgart High School students. In 2012-13, 29 students entered the Stuttgart School District through School Choice (Act 609). Two students left the district through Choice during that time.

Gifted and Talented/AP

Over 200 Stuttgart students are enrolled in the district’s Gifted and Talented Program. Sixth-grade GT included 26 students, followed by fourth grade with 25, eighth grade with 23 and fifth grade with 22 students. In 2012-13, 105 students were enrolled in one or more Advanced Placement course, and 175 AP exams were administered. AP exams are scored 1-5, and while most of the scores were 1 or 2, 10 students recorded 3s and three 4s were recorded in English Language/Composition 11th grade, English Language/Composition 12th grade and Calculus AB.

Hopson said the district is “working to improve” AP exam scores.

College and scholarships

Many students are continuing their education after graduating from Stuttgart High School. Of the 122 graduates in the SHS Class of 2013, 53 students (or 44.1 percent) went on to a four-year college or university, while 48 students (40 percent) enrolled at a two-year college.

From 2007-2013, the number of students attending four-year colleges or universities has hovered between 44 and 50 percent, however the number of students enrolling in a two-year college has increased from 25 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in 2013.

The amount of scholarship money earned by Stuttgart High School students has also drastically increased in recent years. In 2007, the SHS graduating class of 137 students earned $1,179,703 in scholarships. The Class of 2013, with 122 graduates, earned scholarships with a potential value of $1,999,500.

A safe environment

The district is taking steps to provide a safe and orderly learning environment for Stuttgart students. Discipline policies were distributed to all parents and the school board adopted a Parental Involvement Plan. The district has also provided discipline training for all staff. In the last year, 14 students have been expelled; five students were disciplined for weapon incidents; four students were disciplined for staff assaults; and eight students were disciplined for student assaults.

Teacher Quality

The quality of Stuttgart School District teachers also continues to improve. According to the annual report, 96.2 percent of Stuttgart teachers are licensed in their area, while 3.8 percent are requesting waivers. In the district, 64.2 percent of teachers have a bachelor’s degree, 34.6 percent has a master’s degree and 1.3 percent has an advanced degree. Five Stuttgart teachers are nationally board certified.

School Board

Act 1775 of 2005 requires school board members to accumulate a minimum of six hours of required training per calendar year. Members of the Stuttgart School District Board of Directors far exceed the minimum requirement. In 2012 and so far in 2013, board members have recorded a total of 260.25 hours of training.

• Todd Barnes (elected in September 2013) — 6 hours

• Rita Cress — 50.75 hours

• Napolean Davis — 59.25 hours

• Carla Gipson — 72 hours

• Chris Morgan — 11 hours

• Henry Newby — 28.25 hours

• Tim Vose — 33 hours.

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